FoodShed: American Artisan Foods Online

Store History

Founded:
2009

Founded by:
Brenda Crow

Headquarters:
Portland, Oregon

Our FoodShed is a curated online marketplace for the finest hand-crafted food from the American Foodshed. It's a place to discover products that are truly the best in their class - that tell a story &mdash; about where they're from, who makes them, and why they're so delicious that they make you run to your kitchen to cook.

A buzz word among locavores, a "foodshed" encompasses everything from a food's production methods to its consumption — the whole journey from farm to table. Like the folks in Portlandia's "Is It Local?" skit — but much less cultish — FoodShed founder Brenda Crow hunts down and researches small farms across the country, and then makes their products available online to shoppers who are looking for artisinal products in their area.

Based out of Portland, Brenda's job is basically to "check the chicken's papers." She explains, "I use my background as a chef and specialty-food buyer to hunt down and evaluate great products that are truly the best in their class. I’ll only choose a product if it tells a story — about where it’s from, who makes it, and why it’s so delicious that it makes me run to my kitchen to cook."

Her site is full of great recipes, beautiful photographs, and top-quality products. There's also a feature that allows shoppers to search within their region for the best seafood, meat, cheese, vegetables, pantry items, desserts, and main dishes. Here are a few good things we found — visit FoodShed online to shop for yourself: